News: Tire Recycling & Pyrolysis

PROs collaborate with service providers on behalf of tire manufactures. They manage collection and recovery of scrap tires, and can help with research and development. eTracks, incorporated by the Tire and Rubber Association of Canada (TRAC), is one of the PROs functioning in Ontario and it’s responsible for 80 percent of collection and recovery obligations. Ontario now tends to view end-of-life tires mostly as resources rather than waste as it’s possible to process them and get valuable products such as crumb rubber, ground rubber, modified asphalt, gravel substitute. In addition, recycled products can be then used for construction projects, or in paving flooring and so much more.

The 10th Kuwait Waste Management Conference & Exhibition initially scheduled for March 11-12 will be rescheduled for June 9-10, 2020. The event will be devoted to solid waste management, including end-of-life tire recycling, in GCC countries, and will be held on March 11-12 in Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel in Kuwait.

This year speakers will discuss problems that challenge scrap tire control and management companies. However, it will also be of interest to enterprises involved in development of tire-derived products in California. The conference will be held at the Holiday Inn Sacramento Downtown Arena in Sacramento, CA. Prospective attendees are now welcome to register for the event. It will become a perfect place for networking and education about scrap tire industry trends in recycling and sustainability, retreading, end-of-life tire management and design of tire-derived products; also, it will shed light on market opportunities that exist in the United States at the moment.

Liberty Tire Recycling, a big tire recycling company headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, United States has presented a new dry-mix rubber additive labelled SmartMIX that can boost asphalt paving. The producer claims it can result in longer asphalt service and, durability and crack resistance. The product fully relies on scrap tires and does not require liquid modifiers. According to the manufacturer, all necessary tests have been already conducted to prove the quality of the product and start commercializing it.

ShredderTire claims that its rooftop assembly and blocks that are produced under the label Echo-System significantly alter the industry as they can substitute lumber blocking. The company says that their products, Echo Blocks, are more environment-friendly as they rely on recycled scrap tires. The products made from recycled tires compete with wood and can be installed much faster and easier, according to ShreddedTire.

Peru has presented a sustainable female fashion shoe brand that relies on recycled end-of-life tire rubber. The company is called EstoyEco (“I’m Eco” in English). Jesselyn Campomanes, CEO and co-founder of EstoyEco commented on the process of shoe making saying that scrap tires are treated during 2 phases – these moves are needed to make soles of the footwear. She noted that normally recyclers deliver scrap tires to the brand’s facility where the end-of-life materials are selected and washed. Tires also undergo process of cutting and tread separation and then plates of shoe soles are manufactured.

Spain has taken a step to get rid of scrap tires from beaches as part of the Libera Project. The measure united well-known brands and corporations such as Pirelli Tires, Michelin, Goodyear and others; they joined Signus – Spanish scrap tire management authority – and the Network of Marine Rangers to advance the program labeled “1 Square Metre by Nature”. All parties involved in the initiative sought an aim to effectively remove and manage waste tires so they could be reused.

Prospective attendees are invited to register for European Tyre Recycling Association’s (ETRA) Conference that is set to take place at the NH Collection, Grand Sablon in Brussels. The conference is an annual three-day event that will take place for the 27th time. It will see plenary sessions and discussions paying special focus on pyrolysis and the future of it. The speakers will share their reports on how markets for recycled tire products will be expanded. Attendees will learn which recycled rubber products may see the greatest demand in the new decade.

Critics of the grant programs launched by New Zealand authorities over the decade expressed their opinion that the funded measures failed to achieve outstanding results and was moving not fast enough. Some $20 million have been provided earlier to fight scrap tire issue in the state by the Government's Waste Minimisation Fund. However, tire clearance efforts are taking place too slow. The new group Accountability Action responsible for clearance of North Canterbury stockpile has also been accused of lack of progress.